The second shift flew by for Kid, before he knew it he was punching out for the day and heading back home. He wasn't sure if Nia would be there when he got back but he found himself hoping that she was. He almost had to physically restrain himself from running out of the building.
It was nice to have someone closer to his age to talk with again, maybe at some point they could go for a hike together. He knew a few hiking trails in the area some close by, some further away. He lamented on his financial situation, wishing that they could go bowling or something.
When his parents had been alive it was easy to find fun stuff to do with his peers. They'd go to arcades, movie theaters, coffee shops, mall shopping sprees, concerts and just generally had a good time. Then it all went to hell. First he'd met his ex, then he'd fallen in with her crowd, next thing he knew he was at the dance and the guy was hassling her—well that's what he always told people, it was more like threatening her. Then came him losing his temper with the creep, then the assault charges and Juvie, and then—
Kid shook his head, trying to knock that memory loose before it could take hold. He didn't want to fall down that rabbit hole today. He took out the package of cigarettes from his pocket and opened it. He placed one between his lips and flicked the lighter, bringing the end of the cigarette to the flame and taking a deep drag of it. He then continued walking.
Cooking with her had been fun, maybe they could find a few low cost or preferably free activities to do around the area. That was assuming that she actually wanted to be his friend which, he thought maybe she might.
He continued to absent mindedly smoke as he walked, seeing his apartment complex on the horizon. A few more steps and he spotted a newspaper stand, most of them did cost some money but there was one that was free. He grabbed a copy and continued on towards home, there could be some upcoming events during the summer that they could check out together.
Kid realized there was still a lot about her that he didn't know. For starters, how'd she prefer her eggs? Did she prefer them with bacon or something else? What did she prefer on her pancakes? Killer had a tendency to put peanut butter on his, but Kid preferred jam or syrup. Peanut butter was for sandwiches and oatmeal.
"You're smoking openly now? That's new," a female voice called to him from behind.
He dropped the cigarette, now down to the butt to the ground and stepped on it to extinguish it. He exhaled the smoke he'd been holding in his lungs and replied, "things change."
The voice didn't miss a beat before pressing, "I saw you at Crocus' Pharmacy yesterday with that girl. She your new girlfriend?"
"Who she is doesn't matter Victoria," Kid stated as he turned to face her. He looked her in the eye before adding, "we haven't been together for what? Two years and three months?"
The sandy blonde-haired woman had a similar complexion to himself, with light brown eyes and freckles lightly dusted across the bridge of her nose. She was wearing denium short shorts that didn't make it down to mid thigh paired with white sandals and a pink short sleeved crop top that showed her navel piercing.
Victoria wasn't giving up as she pressed, "she's a bit young though, don't you think?"
Kid raised his eyebrows at as he reminded her, "less than the age gap between us, or was that only cool because I was younger than you?"
"Oh well, maybe she'll get smart and stay away," Victoria suggested.
Kid shook his head before he answered, "So you did have something to do with it. I'm only gonna say it once: anything more happens to her, I don't give a damn if I crash and burn with you."
"But that would destroy Killian, wouldn't it? Knowing his little brother torched himself on his watch, after he sacrificed so much to keep you out of the system," Victoria smirked.
She shook her head as she lamented, "You poor foolish boy. You had no idea who you were attaching yourself to. You just saw a hot body."
Kid kept his eyes on her as he drank in her thinly veiled threat and shook his head, "Nah. I mean you do look good. You always did—but it was never your body that drew me in."
A half smirk spread across his lips while the confession escaped them, "I always had a thing for your freckles."
Victoria's face twisted in confusion as she pressed, "my freckles?"
Kid nodded, the same goofy smile on his face while he revealed, "I've always found freckles on a girl cute. Sure all guys have a body part that they find attractive in a more—intimate sense. That one I'm not telling you. But freckles on a girl—I don't know just something about it gets me like nothing else. Can't explain it."
"That new girl doesn't have freckles," Victoria pointed out.
Kid looked to his ex-girlfriend while he suggested, "Then maybe you should wonder if you got the wrong impression. And tell your punk ass brother to watch himself. If I hadn't stepped in and somebody else saw him—he'd be looking at an attempted murder charge. She's asthmatic, she was having an episode and he wouldn't let her use her inhaler."
Realization was reflected on Victoria's face as she took in this new information causing her to stammer, "S-so you w-we-were-"
"Don't flatter yourself. I couldn't give a rat's ass less what happens to you or that stupid punk—but Juvie isn't the extended vacation people think it is—and if he did do something that heinous, he could get tried as an adult. It isn't unheard of. From what I've heard things are even worse there. Wouldn't wish it on anybody," he clarified.
"Since he's your little brother—do him a favour and remind him to watch himself. Ultimately nobody, not Celestial Dragon or Pirate is above the law's reach if they reach far enough," Kid warned.
He turned and changed direction walking off somewhere else while messing about with his phone. As he walked further away from her he called back over his shoulder, "Do me a solid in return: don't talk to me again."
He could feel Victoria's eyes on him for a while causing him to change course and go into a convenience store instead of continuing on home. She had been to his house before he went to Juvie, but she had never set foot near his apartment to his knowledge. He nodded to the man behind the counter, a guy he knew fairly well to see and shoot the breeze with.
He headed towards the back, wasting time, looking at the items in the store and sent a message to Killer: ran into a former bad decision. Laying low at a store before heading home.
